Video Cards: GeForce or Radeon?

CarlZog · Dec 13, 2005

Thinking it's time for a new gaming machine.

Can someone tell me the pros and cons of the Nvidia GeForce and the ATI Radeon?

Carl

mps42 · Dec 13, 2005

Disclaimer
The opinions expressed here are just that, opinions.
/Disclaimer

I am firmly in the camp of Nvidia cards in general. The physical Nvidia cards and their performance at a given price/performance level are generally better (as long as you don't get something from 'Bobs computer company') and, in general, there are more games that will "specialize" in Nvidia than ATI.
Also, I have had poor history with ATI's Drivers/software. They tend to be bigger, have more "un-needed" features and more prone to crashing or having problems.

That being said, depending on what you want to DO, you really can't go wrong with either chipset, just spend the money for a quality version (MSI, ASUS, etc.).

drothgery · Dec 13, 2005

Unless you're talking about specific cards (i.e. nVidia GeForce 6600GT vs ATi Radeon X700 Pro), it's hard to get detailed about the merits of one card or another; at the same price point the feature sets are pretty close. At most price points right now, nVidia's offering better price/performance with the GeForce 6xxx/7xxx line vs the Radeon Xx00/X1x00 line (it wasn't too long ago that ATi's Radeon 9xxx line was offering better price/performance across the board than nVidia's GeForce FX 5xxx line), but deciding the card to get is pretty much about deciding how much you want to spend and if there are any "must-have" features that you'd sacrifice performance to get.

CarlZog · Dec 13, 2005

drothgery said:
..but deciding the card to get is pretty much about deciding how much you want to spend and if there are any "must-have" features that you'd sacrifice performance to get.

I can't go particularly high-end here. Which ones should I be looking at in the $100 - $150 range?

I honestly have NO idea what other special features one would look for in a video card. I just want something that runs clean, fast games with good detail.

Carl

drothgery · Dec 13, 2005

Probably the stock answer at that point is GeForce 6600GT (which is what I have, though I got it a while ago when they were going for about $175, because for some reason I buy good midrange graphics cards even though I'm not much of a PC gamer), though it's really hard to go too far wrong with any recent card in that range (any GeForce 6600, any Radeon X700, any Radeon X1300, any Radeon X1600, possibly some cut-down GeForce 6800 variants, possibly some cut-down Radeon X800 variants). Stay away from two-generations old cards (you pretty much can't find new GeForce 5xxx cards anymore, but there are still Radeon 9xxx cards around) and last-gen low-end cards (GeForce 62xx, Radeon X300, Radeon X600).

CarlZog · Dec 13, 2005

drothgery said:
Probably the stock answer at that point is GeForce 6600GT, though it's really hard to go too far wrong with any recent card in that range (any GeForce 6600....

Thanks. That's the direction I started heading in after looking online this morning.

Carl

Rackhir · Dec 13, 2005

If you don't have PCIe your choices may be limited somewhat as the newer cards may be PCIe only and not have an AGP version. Is that the case for you?

trancejeremy · Dec 13, 2005

I got a 6600 GT AGP from newegg.com about 4 months ago for $140.

It is a good card, but you wouldn't believe the trouble with drivers I've had. For the longest time (and still, at least for me), there was a bug in recent drivers which made them not work well with Guild Wars. Or the Sims 2. Texture problems. And there is seemingly a bug in The Movies which causes some stutter for Nvidia cards (the game was sponsored by ATI, so I suspect this was not deliberate, but testing wasn't really done for Nvidia cards)

You should visit http://www.tomshardware.com/ and check out their benchmarks for various cards, particular those for games you want to play.

shaylon · Dec 13, 2005

Just a word of warning. I have several friends that have had problems with ATI cards that are believed to be related to the Nforce chipset on certain AMD mobos. The Nforce chipset is made by Nvidia and they recommend their cards for use with it.

I am an Nvidia guy myself. Not for any reason other than that is what I bought when they both started gaining market share and they have been reliable. I don't know much about the ATI cards because I have been happy with the Nvidias.

-Shay

CarlZog · Dec 13, 2005

trancejeremy said:
You should visit http://www.tomshardware.com/ and check out their benchmarks for various cards, particular those for games you want to play.

Great site. Thanks!

At the moment, I'm most concerned with being able to play EVE-Online and Virtual Skipper III (an online sailboat racing game), but I'll also be excited about playing Neverwinter Nights at something besides the absolute lowest possible graphic level -- which is where I'm at now.

Carl